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Bill could eliminate Colorado's 'tampon tax'

The law would eliminate the state's sales tax on feminine hygiene products like tampons, pads and menstrual cups.
Alicia Stice

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Melissa Reese is director of Support the Girls - Fort Collins, an organization that distributes tampons, pads and bras to homeless and poor women because they think having those things is important for basic human dignity. A proposed law would eliminate the state sales tax on feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads.(Photo: Valerie Mosley/The Coloradoan)Buy Photo

The idea behind the bill is to reduce the financial burden women face for menstruating, a cost that can disproportionately affect poor women.

The state already exempts some necessities — such as most food you eat at home — from state sales taxes. But other things, including toilet paper, are taxed like anything else at the grocery store.

A fiscal analysis of the bill indicates it would likely save the average woman about $1.71 a year if she spent $60 a year on feminine hygiene products. The amount would vary based on volume and type of products. The state demographer estimates Colorado's population of women and girls between ages 12 and 51 will average 1.523 million in 2018 and 1.551 million in 2019.

Melissa Reese, director of the Fort Collins chapter of Support the Girls, an organization that distributes bras and feminine hygiene products to women who are homeless and in poverty, said the tax amount might seem small but could make a big difference for someone living on the edge.

"When we think about what a homeless woman is able to do for herself, she might have access to only a few dollars a day," she said. "She has to make choices. What might be a couple of cents to you and I who have regular incomes, it can make all the difference for (someone else), a woman who's able to buy the product she needs and the food she needs."

Proponents of the bill say it's a way to reduce gender inequality by helping cut the price of an item most women need for decades of their lives. But critics say its an unfair tax cut based on gender.​

Support the Girls is an organization that distributes tampons and bras to homeless and poor women because they think having those things is important for basic human dignity. A proposed law would eliminate the state sales tax on feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads.(Photo: Valerie Mosley/The Coloradoan)

Rep. Perry Buck, R-Windsor, is worried about the money the state would lose from eliminating the state sales tax on tampons. If passed, the bill would cost the state about $2.4 million in lost revenue in its first full year in action, according to fiscal estimates.

But Buck added she's worried more about whether the bill is fair.

"I'm happy (about the bill) if they exempt the male hygiene products," Rep. Perry Buck, R-Windsor, said, arguing that because the bill only exempts feminine hygiene products and does not include products that most men use — such as razors — it is unfair. "To me, for the government to be picking winners and losers, I'm not crazy about that at all."

When poor women do not have access to menstrual sanitary products, Reese said they often use tampons for too long, which can increase their risk of developing Toxic Shock Syndrome. She also said that because her organization relies on donated products, it would make it more affordable for those who want to help.

That $2.4 million in lost tax revenue would come from the general fund and would likely mean a smaller refund for tax payers under TABOR. But if there were lower state tax revenues due to a recession, it could affect the state's budget.

Although the bill would eliminate the state's 2.9 percent sales tax on feminine hygiene products, the city of Fort Collins' 3.85 percent sales tax would remain in place unless City Council decided to adopt a similar policy. Tampons, pads and other sanitary products are also taxed at the level of 0.65 percent in Larimer County.

Only seven states currently exempt tampons, menstrual cups and pads from sales taxes, according to Politifact.

Lontine, who is sponsoring the bill, said many of her constituents who are women asked her to address the sales tax on tampons, pads and other menstrual sanitary products.

Support the Girls is an organization that distributes tampons and bras to homeless and poor women because they think having those things is important for basic human dignity. A proposed law would eliminate the state sales tax on feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads.(Photo: Valerie Mosley/The Coloradoan)

"It seems requiring us to pay an additional sales tax on a product that we have to have as a necessity for a bodily function we have no control over, that's not fair to me," she said. "And while the savings individually may not be huge, to most women, I think to some women it is. And we shouldn't be trying to make money off this."

Joann Ginal, D-Fort Collins, said she worried about the effect this bill could have on the state's budget, but she also felt that as an issue of fairness, the state should not levy a sales tax on a product many women need.

"These items are really necessary for women, and periods are not a choice," she said. "They are a natural bodily function, and I don't think (feminine hygiene products) should be taxable items."

The bill moved out of the House Finance Committee on Monday in a 7-6 vote. Its next stop is the House Appropriations Committee.